Uznews, Samarkand, 21 Aug 2008 – The Samarkand police have been keeping silent about a case trumped up against three journalists and human rights activists, who were actually victims, on hooliganism charges.
Sixteen days past since the Samarkand town police department launched a criminal case under Article 277, Part 2 of the Criminal Code “hooliganism by a group of people” against human rights activist Kamiljon Ashurov and two journalists of the Ovozi Tojik (Tajik Voice) newspaper Pardakul Turakulov and Zokir Hasan-zade.
Over this time, all three men received treatment in different hospitals in the town and recovered their health damaged as the result of “hooliganism”.
Zokir Hasan-zade, 52, was last to leave hospital on 19 August. After the 5 August events when he and his colleagues were attacked by a group of women at the Siab market and later beaten up at a nearby police station, he felt pains in his heart and he also complained about general indisposition and stress.
A little earlier Pardakul Turakulov, 60, left hospital but he said he had not recovered properly: he still has blood in his urine because the women seriously damaged his kidneys. The third victim Kamiljon Ashurov received treatment at home and says he feels much better now.
All three men are worried about the Samarkand police’s inaction. They say that all investigation activities have been halted since the launch of the criminal case against them.
“We would be only glad if the police left us alone once and for good,” human rights activist Kamiljon Ashurov said. “We are afraid that this is lull before the storm. You can never be sure about anything in Uzbekistan.”
According to police, on 5 August the men attacked two women who went to police to complain about the men, while the human rights activist and journalists say that this is a blatant lie because police officers were present when they were beaten up by 20 women at the police station.
The men think that police officers hired the women because they did not like that the human rights activist and the journalists interviewed traders and customers at the Siab bazaar on that day and met the director of the market, so they were punished.
This incident openly points to the fact that the Uzbek authorities not only prevent but also unofficially ban journalistic and human rights activities.
That police quickly reacted to journalists’ appearance in a public place shows that the local authorities all over the country have right to fight journalists and human rights activists and have perfected all the necessary methods for doing so.
No-one knows the outcome of the case launched against Ashurov, Turakulov and Hasan-zade. The Samarkand town police department is keeping silent. It is possible that it aimed to intimidate and humiliate these people, forcing them to suffer from long waiting and uncertainty.
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